


candy dish

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 03:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18421470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Collection of ficlets for Good Things Happen Bingo.  25 prompts, so 25 chapters.Where Jessica and Matt deserve soft, nice things and to have a happy life.  Frank sleeps on the couch and eventually forgets to leave because, well, they have all the soft nice things, so he just hangs out(and sometimes they make out because, well, that's soft and nice too, isn't it?).*Non-linear fluffy pieces in a future!verse where everything is sweet and nothing hurts.  Bite-sized updates to follow.*





	1. animal companion

**Author's Note:**

> *fluffs all the pillows* 
> 
> *blows on hot cup of tea* 
> 
> *wriggles toes in socks*
> 
> Ready?

 

She holds out her hand and huffs in surprise when the cat sniffs her fingers and licks at her knuckles with a bumpy tongue. "Hey."

The cat doesn't respond vocally, choosing to nudge her fur under her fingers to request more serious petting.

She's never had a cat or even _considered_ a pet - she thinks her brother had a puppy for a few days when they were kids but responsibility isn't a Jones trait without practice - but she made a promise.

Her client and her family have a new house three states away, the asshole ex is locked up for 10-20 and Jessica has a brand new cat. She hasn't decided if the case goes in the success cabinet or the drawer of failure and shame - depends on how long she can keep this thing alive.

She abandons the creature for her phone, swiping her fingers over the screen. She doesn't call Trish anymore and Malcolm and Jeri are on her holiday reminder list alone but her contacts aren't as empty as they were a year ago.

" _Did you get it?_ " Matt asks, wind muffling his voice.

She parses the noise and glances up. "Are you on the roof?"

" _No, that would be stupid. I'm on the fire escape, it's not dark enough for the roof yet,_ " he answers, his smile audible across the distance.

"Cat has been delivered," she says.

_"Name, size, color if it's necessary for future reference. No, I'm not talking about a kid, Peter, not everything's your business."_

She laughs and the cat hops into her lap. "I haven't read the package yet. Beige and white cat, couple of years old. Fluffy as hell."

_"Noted.  I'll need to meet her."_

"Just swing by after your patrol's over. You out in Queens?" She's been living next to Matt for a few months and having a safe space apart from her office is a thing she wishes she'd known she needed.

_"Kid's got his AP Spanish exam next week so we'll be back at mine earlier than usual."_

She opens the envelope the courier dropped off with the cat and scans it. "Hi, my name is Blade, The Daywalker and I only eat canned food for dinner but please keep my water bowl and kibble full because I am a growing vampire hunter that needs my vitamins."

_"Please tell me you're going to put that on a plaque by the door."_


	2. comfort from a panic attack

The knock on the door wakes her from a rare case-free afternoon nap - and it sounds way too much like the police to ignore.

Matt wouldn't let cops come without warning - but Frank Castle makes fucked-up sense when she swings open the door. "What?"

"Matt's - can you come over?" Frank blurts out.

She scrambles after him, his expression no match for the worry in his voice.

"Cheerwine, stay," Frank says and a huge Rottweiler wags its curled tail frantically in response from Matt's couch. Blade, the Daywalker, takes immediate offense and trots into the apartment between Frank's boots.

She has so many questions about Matt's life choices right now but they're too close these days for her to bring them up at the moment - not when he's having a _moment_.

A _bad_ moment. Matt's hunched between the counter and the wall in his 'o _mg don't touch me omg_ ' position with his hands holding his head down against his knees.

"What happened?" she asks under her breath, pulling her hands into her sleeves and using the cuffs to make first contact.

"I - he was tasting the sauce to see if it had too much - and he just switched off. I didn't want to touch him, thought maybe - " Frank says, equally soft-spoken.

He doesn't flinch from the fabric of her sweater but he's trembling and murmuring silent words. Prayer, probably, the poor fuck.

"Maybe pitch dinner, smell's set him off before so I wouldn't count out the taste of something triggering him," Jessica admits, sliding her fingers out so she can make contact. She doesn't know if he can tell fingerprints apart but he turns his hand into her palm when she cups his cheek.

"Whiskey," he whispers.

"Nice to see you, too, asshole. Where are you right now?" Jessica whispers back. She hasn't drank in days but she is wearing her 'drinking bra'. "Focus."

His eyes track something nobody can see when he raises his head. "Home?"

"Try again," she says.

"Dog's here, Frank was making - shit. I can't have bolognese," Matt says, unfolding slowly and splaying his hands on his thighs.

"Probably something you should have mentioned to the Italian guy making dinner," Frank sighs.

Matt tangles his fingers with Jess and deflates. "Never imagined I'd land a guy that could cook. It's a myth."

She tugs him to his feet and Frank taps the top of a Tupperware dish. "I'm not pitching this, it took too long to pitch."

"Deal," Jessica says, still holding Matt's hand.

"It was perfect, if that matters," Matt says suddenly. "Too perfect and - I really wish I could eat it and not taste blood."

Frank carefully tucks Matt into his arms and gives Jessica a silent 'thank you' over his shoulder. "I can throw on the steaks I brought for breakfast, fuck a guy for being optimistic."

"Maybe he will," Jessica teases.

"You want to invite your neighbor to dinner?" Frank smiles.

"If she wants to put on a shirt and open the wine, sure," Matt replies.   

 


	3. mercy

 

  
She dumps a scoop of coffee into Matt’s coffeemaker and checks his fridge for anything edible leftover from his recent study sessions with the kid. She hasn’t been to bed yet so it’s only fair she makes sure he makes it to work on time and she gets a cup of his good coffee.

A soft whine catches her attention and she spots Castle's dog wagging her tail tentatively by the closed bedroom door.

Ha, jackpot. She steals the first cup of coffee, replacing the pot and takes in the apartment - and the set of duffle bags near the dog's food and water bowls. Huh.

"Morning, Cheerwine, where's Papa?" she asks softly. The dog wags her tail and pointedly looks at the closed door.

She grins when it opens an instant later. "Get fucked, Jones," Matt greets her. "Coffee?"

"Not for you, I got dibs on this one," she says, biting back a snicker when Frank shuffles out behind him with a cuff on the ears for his dog. "Good morning."

Matt flips her the bird but Frank doesn't react like a guilty one-night-stand. Something's on the Punisher's mind.

He drops a cup of food in the bowl for the dog before he turns to her with a determined expression. “I need a place to stay. Temporarily. You guys live out of each other’s pockets so I figured I’d double down and ask you, too,” Frank says. Matt goes still but doesn’t turn around.

She takes a sip of coffee. “Huh. Dog, too?”

“Unfortunately,” Matt grumbles.

“As long as she doesn’t fuck with Blade, the Daywalker, then we won’t have a problem. The rest is understood, right?”

Frank nods slowly. “Do I have to say her name like that?”

“Every time,” Jessica replies. “Don’t fuck with the balance and we’ll all get by just fine.”

"The balance," Frank repeats.

"Blade, the Daywalker, stays here if she has an overnight guest," Matt sighs. "I'm not allowed to ask questions unless she doesn't leave the food bowl."

"How do you know when Matt has an overnight guest?" Frank asks, crossing his arms. Jessica makes a mental note of the fading lovebite on his collarbone. Matt has a thing about that spot.

Jessica stares at Matt's back until he feels it and turns around. "I send her a text. I didn't send her one last night because you were on the couch when I passed out."

"And that upset the balance," Frank leans back against the counter. "So now you ask questions?"

"He's a fast learner, he'll do fine. Are you running from a murder beef or - "

Frank holds up his hand. "No. Clean slate with the Feds, going with the same alias and don't have anybody left I plan on killing, resurrections be damned."

"Too soon," Matt warns but Jessica flicks Frank a thumb's up.

"Are you dating?" she asks.

"No," Frank and Matt say together.

"It just happens sometimes," Frank mutters, covering his face.

"Yeah, I know, usually around my sixth whiskey of the night, it happens to me, too," Jessica snorts.

"Should I resent that?" Matt asks after a beat.

"I promise not to fuck up the balance," Frank says.

 


	4. wearing each other’s clothes

  
She doesn't usually think too hard about what she wears - as long as it doesn't smell and it doesn't flash her ass or tits - but something seems 'off' today. She sneaks a sniff and deodorant is a go but she glimpses the shirt and - okay.

Colleen doesn't call her out apart from pointing at her with a bright grin. So, yeah, that counts as called out.

"Explain that," Misty orders Matt, smoothing his hands over a stack of printouts. Matt's nostrils flare slightly but he gives no other reaction. "You're wearing Castle's hoodie and girl pants and he's wearing your hoodie and now - "

She thought she had the blue Columbia hoodie in her hoard but Frank's got his fists tucked shamelessly inside the pouch.

“We do laundry together to save money,” she interrupts and it's not a _total_ lie.

Danny chuckles from the corner with Luke. “Matt does everybody's laundry, try again.”

“Is that mine? Do I have any sweatshirts in my closet right now?” Matt asks when she leans over his shoulder to check out whatever tonight’s emergency is.

"How did you fit into my jeans?" Jessica whispers.

"Not easily," he replies and she admires his ass until Frank pinches her.

 

 


	5. scarf buddies

  
  


  
“Happy unbirthday to everyone from us,” Jessica announces, passing out the carefully folded scarves without waking Matt from his incidental nap on Colleen's yoga mat.

“Soft, what's all this?” Luke asks.

“Matt knits for therapy and Frank and I get bored,” Jessica shrugs. “Pocket's shielded under the monogram for metal detectors and can hold a lockpick, flash drive, sim card - ‘

“Fingerprint locked so try not to lose it or zap it in the microwave. Hand wash only,” Frank says, not opening his eyes in his lazy perch at the end of the kitchen bar.

“Neat,” Danny says curiously.

Matt fidgets until his hand finds the uninvited 'difference' in his space and starts to wind the scarf around his hands like his Muay Thai ropes. Misty takes pity on him and wakes him with a gentle kick to the ankle that brings him upright like Blade, the Daywalker. "What?"

"Thanks for the scarf," Misty says dryly as he pushes his fingers through his hair.

"Oh, yeah. Imported yarn," he murmurs, smoothing the scarf against his skin. "Foggy told me to sell them on Pinterest."

"They're just conveniently all black - not just in case you need to put on the mask in a pinch, right?" Luke offers.

"Why are you talking to a blind guy about colors?" Matt counters. "Happy unbirthday to you."

 


End file.
